History of Assumption School

Assumption School was founded in 1961, and is part of the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese.

In 1961, Father Collins, the pastor of Powell River, had just finished building Assumption School, but he wanted Sisters to teach at the school. A Maltese gentleman from Powell River, Mr. Joe Formosa, suggested to Father Collins to write to the Archbishop of Malta in his search. Answering his request, the Missionary Sisters of Jesus Of Nazareth agreed to come to teach and soon after, six Sisters made the long tiring trip from Malta to start serving the newly built Assumption School. At that time, the school consisted of seven classes, from Grade One to Grade Seven. The first year there were 240 students in the school. Kindergarten was added to the school soon afterwards. Every morning when the bell rang for the students to enter the school, the children would walk down the hallway to their classrooms singing a hymn Hail Holy Queen the Ocean Star led by Father John Collins on the P.A.system.

Sister Petronilla worked tirelessly to improve the school. She would go to Vancouver whenever she could to visit other schools and see what was needed for the benefit of the students and then find a way to get the funds to buy it. It took a lot of hard work and many sacrifices on the part of the sisters to make the school what it is today. In 2008, Sister Claire, the last Missionary Sister of Jesus of Nazareth teaching at Assumption, retired after forty years of service to the school. The Sisters have since returned to Malta to spend their retirement there.

In the 1990s, Saint Joseph's Academy was established, creating a Middle School for the school, eventually for students in Grades 7, 8 and 9. Saint Joseph's Academy is designed to offer students the opportunity to choose from a variety of elective courses that allow students to explore a broad range of experiences, while enjoying the smaller classes of Assumption's family-like environment.

Over the years, do the the great efforts and contributions of parents, staff and parishioners from Assumption parish, Assumption School has been able to add new facilities for Saint Joseph's Academy, kitchen and meeting space in the brand new Saint Joseph's Hall, a new playground, and a state of the art soccer field.

Time honored traditions enjoyed at Assumption are the annual Christmas Concert in December and the Rice Bowl Day every Ash Wednesday in the spring.